Pokécamps 4ever
by MadHatterz
Summary: Everyone goes on a journey when they get older. Some didn't have the financial situation to manage that lifestyle, or the survival skills needed to make it. Come join a wild adventure at Pokécamps, an island made by dreams, hopes, and aspirations. Watch as trainers bond together, and become something a little bit more. For this story will be a ride like none other.


It was the first day of summer when the boat had left its docks, holding a group of eight. A small cruise ship at its biggest. A large boat with bedrooms at worst. It surfed across the sea at slow speeds, so that the morning sun wouldn't awaken its passengers. Despite that, it seemed the sunrise would do that for the ship anyways. In one room in particular, the light seemed to hit at such an angle that it laid upon a face. An unlucky position to wake up in that much was for sure.

Two eyes opened, belonging to the boy laying in the blankets, almost seeming misplaced as they seemed to be eyes more for a thug. His face was being shined upon due to the window, and it was so bright, he could barely stand it. Putting his hand over his eyes, the boy attempted to turn over to block the light, but as soon as he did, a fur-ball of brown and tan appeared next to him. Its brown eyes were looking at the boy, as she put a paw on his face, as a means to wake him up.

"Five more minutes, Elle." The boy spoke again, pulling the blankets back over his body, attempting to pass waking up now.

"Ee-vee!" the fur ball stated, jumping on the boy's chest under the blankets. It seemed to be a female Eevee, now that the sunlight was popping over it. Its cry seemed to at least be somewhat understandable by the boy under the covers, and even as he groaned again, it seemed there would be no way to stop from waking up. Not like he could back to sleep at this rate.

"Alright, you win Elle." The boy said, pulling the blanket off himself. His hair seemed in a mess of dull blonde, covering his bangs to the top of his neck in the back. His ears seemed covered. Not many traits seemed to stick out, aside from a bandage on his nose, insinuating a wound. Aside from that, the blonde was rather scrawny. Not entirely fat, but not entirely muscular either. Just skinny. He wore a black tank-top with a pair of green cargo shorts underneath. On the other hand, Elle, the Eevee, was wearing her fur as she always had, the fur on her forehead leaning over just a tidbit. In her left ear, a bow stuck, tied right at the base of the ear. As the blonde got up from bed, the tiny Eevee followed his footsteps with a beat in her own. Heading outside of the cruise ship, the two looked at the sunrise that woke them both up.

They must have looked at the sunrise for a couple minutes, because what broke their gaze was the ship's horn. As they both heard it, the blonde teenager and his fur ball friend turned the other way. And there it was. The place of their final destination. A camp built upon the grounds of an island. There was a certain happiness mixed with adrenaline running through the male's veins, as he could already see numerous water Pokémon flopping back and forth. They were beautiful in their own way. A school of Magikarp, some Goldeens, A Luvdisc here or there… on the island, he could see all their cabins. A grin moved across the boy's face.

A door seemed to slam open, and a female popped out, her hair practically everywhere as she began yelling at the ship. "Hey! Some of us are trying to get their beauty sleep!" she hissed, pointing her glare right at the blonde. "Edward? The hell are you doin' up so early?" she sounded uninterested, which was probably for the best. Her hair sat at shoulder length, black hair meant for a raven. Her clothes suggested that she was rather well-endowed, a black chemise covered her upper body, while a black, silk nightgown covered that, but her lower body seemed invisible, only leading the boy to believe something was there. The clothes sat tightly upon the tanned skin of the girl. Her eyes were purple, but bigger than the boy's own. In all, her choice of clothing didn't leave much to the imagination.

The boy, now known to be Edward, turned back to her, his left hand grabbing the back of his head, as he made a cheeky expression, whispering under his breath "People wake up when they get enough sleep you know…" but taking a moment to breathe in, he decided a much nicer reply. "I was just looking at all the Pokémon. This camp… it looks amazing, doesn't it? I think I saw a Magikarp!" Edward looked so enthusiastic, he practically glowed for a moment or two.

The older girl, identified as Harley, replied sarcastically, in a rather condescending tone, as she was known to Edward for. "Because so many people wake up for this." She scoffed, and shook her head. "Really, Ed. This is a chance for you to meet people! Make friends, live a little! You're just gonna be the same nerd? We can meet boys here!" she smirked, her confidence unbound, and definitely shown through her assets. She seemed so confident. To the point of arrogance, even, her confidence was all there. So self-centered, she didn't even think of Ed's preference.

He didn't mind either, but he already had a crush, and _she _was much classier.

Harley continued. "Well. Now that the boat has ruined my beauty sleep, and the island is so close, I suppose I'll get ready." She turned around, to head back into her room, but she turned around. "Oh, and Ed? When we get to the island, we don't know each other. No exceptions." she gave him a sour look, and a smirk, before closing the door behind her. Once her door closed, the blonde began using his hand to mouth her words, a jeering expression on his face. Childish, sure, but there wasn't any other way to put it. Harley was being a bitch. Surprise surprise.

The entire conversation, Elle had stuck her tongue out, and spat, attempting to show the queen bee that she wasn't as high and mighty as she sounded. But Harley didn't pay her any mind. Edward only managed to make a simple thought to that. Was she really that hell-bent on tossing away her old Pokémon trainer roots for the sake of meeting boys her age? Did she not get enough of that already? A frown moved across Ed's face.

No thinking about that now! The journey of a thousand miles was about to begin. And as the ship cruised to a halt, Edward grabbed Elle up, and dashed back into his room, where inside, he noticed on the table something he hadn't before. A gift from the captain? But he and Harley had only been out for a minute! Edward's mood became rather positive quite quickly. This gift… it had to be…

A Pokémon egg! He grabbed its incubator holding it, and his bag of clothes on his back, both comfortably small, as he instantly raced out to the campsite. This was his dream. This was their dream! This chance only came once in a lifetime, after all! That's what the letter said, right?

He remembered it like it happened yesterday. He and his father had been chatting on the phone about Pokémon in their hometown flat in Verdanturf Town in Hoenn, where his father asked Ed about giving away Elle for a nice corporate job in Unova's Castelia City, like he had done with Elle's mother years before. That way, the two could get closer. It would free Ed of any and all responsibility from Elle, and seeing as Ed was running out of funds, he figured it was the best thing to do, so he cut him off. That's when the letter came in the mail. The letter from Pokécamps read:

_Mr. Edward O'Connell_

_ You have been cordially invited to partake in an experiment that will place you in an isolated environment with no goals but ones of your own creation; an environment where you will live amongst the Pokémon on this island, and under surveillance, you will participate in this camp for a year. Here, you will begin your adventure, and befriend the wildlife, in hopes that along the way, you learn more about Pokémon, make lifelong friendships, and ultimately, fulfill all of our goals to prove this experiment a success. With your help, we can truly live alongside Pokémon without the need for teams like Team Rocket, Team Plasma, or Team Galactic to dampen our relationship with them._

_I await to see you all,_

_ Chairman Archdale_

The letter would leave his hands as he quickly packed his things. And in five hours, he was already running towards Slateport City, letter in hand for the cruise, despite it happening in a day. With that, he awaited his companions, and in the dead of night, they sailed off to their destination; one that Edward managed to tucker himself out on.

And here Edward was, Elle on his shoulder, egg in his arms. He was ready to be the first to step out into the sands. He could feel the adrenaline pumping. He almost wanted to jump off, if only to show his enthusiasm, but he kept it under-wraps as a means to act and look professional. Oh, who was he kidding, he would jump, but he wanted to go to his cabin, put his stuff down first in his cabin, of which, he saw four of from his view. Meaning he'd be bunking with someone. 'As long as it isn't Harley…' he thought to himself. Anyone but her would be worth rooming with.

Here it was! The ship was lowering the stairs- wait, what is that rainbow-haired girl doing?

Out of the corner of Edward's eye, he noticed a girl with rainbow short hair pulling off her clothes. Well, most of them. Without even a second thought, she dived into the waters below, screaming something unintelligible on the way down, and as she rose out of the water, she made her way to shore, with her stuff. Turning to the boat, she wore a shit-eating grin. "Let it be known, that Ollie Flores is the first to set foot on this island! Compare your lives to mine and proceed to white out!" Despite her having stripped into a two-piece swimsuit, she seemed to have stuffed her clothes in her suitcase which she apparently had thrown off into the ocean as well before she dove. She showed no modesty in her appearance, almost seeming like she didn't care what she looked like, being too excited to be first.

Edward and Elle saw, for that moment, that they would not be the first onto the island. Edward really wanted to traverse these sands first too… not that it mattered really, but he could at least be second. So that was good enough for him, he supposed. A sigh exited his mouth, as he made his way off the ship, watching Ollie stare at him with enough mischievous eagerness to tip a fattened up Miltank over. And before any misconceptions come from that, a fatter-than-it-already-is Miltank. She immediately ran up to Edward, at high athletic speeds, and tackled him, proceeding to…

Give Edward a noogie.

"Stop! That's my head!" Edward cried, his pained face enough to show his discomfort for the pain he was receiving. Ollie thought about it for a minute, but continued her noogie attack, deepening the noogie more.

"Oh, come on lil' bro! This is the first step to being a master. Archie will want us to get along, and you're the only other one out here. Meaning, you're now my friend! Right?" Ollie asked, putting emphasis on the word 'my', almost in a possessive tone. Whatever that meant, Edward was way too preoccupied with getting her off the noogie. Edward struggled, but it seemed the only way to escape was to give into her demands.

"Okay, okay! I'm your friend! Let me go, please, I can you hitting my brain!" Edward groaned out, his pain seeming to intensify. This girl was crazy!

Within no time, the rainbow-haired girl let Edward go, almost tossing him into the sand if not for him quickly maneuvering back to his feet, stable. Right after the death grip, Ollie moved in front of him, pointing to her face. "I'm Ollie! Pleasure to meet you! What about you?"

"Edward." Edward observed, wanting to know if the girl would attack him again.

"Right! So Eddy! Where ya' from?" Ollie seemed really eager about meeting Edward for some reason, and her dopey expression seemed to make Edward uncomfortable. If that weren't all, Edward felt a little abhorrent at his nickname. But it was likely that it wouldn't change, since this girl was so crazy already. She continued, despite Edward barely listening. "I come from Unova, at Mistralton City, the city of flight!"

As deadpan as he could be, Edward replied, uncaring. "Verdanturf Town. Hoenn."

"Oh! What goes on there?" Ollie remained so eager to learn about other people, but her attention almost instantaneously shifted to Elle. "O.M.G.! What Pokémon is that?" she practically snatched Elle off the ground, and hugged it to her. The female Eevee was enjoying herself, at least meeting this newcomer, and she spoke her species tongue, and Ollie immediately squealed. "An Eevee! Oh, I must have her! Can I interest you in Bacon? No wait, I need Bacon. Uh… uh… oh! I'll go catch a Rattata and trade for that! Everybody loves Rattata!" she suggested, hugging the girl Eevee to her face. Now Elle was looking uncomfortable, making Edward smile. A weak one, that went away in a bit, but a smile all the same.

Edward felt sweat form from merely talking to this girl. It was like a mile a second. The sweat built upon his pale skin, and rubbing his head he wondered how she could be so ridiculously spontaneous. "Um… I'm not trading Elle." Ollie immediately grinned, almost as though it did not bother her that he would not trade Elle. Within a moment, the lass grabbed Edward's shoulder in a half hug.

"Welp, Eddy. Let's wait for the others! OH. And I'll let you see Bacon! He's a really awesome treat!" Ollie noted, pulling out her Pokéball. Edward decided, while he waited, to sit the egg incubator on the sand, not forgetting it there, but hugging it tighter when he got grabbed for a noogie by Ollie. Ollie's, hopefully, wasn't flooded with water in the suitcase. But, she seemed to have some control, like she did now.

…wait, the treat, or a Pokémon?

With one throw of the Pokéball, the light flashed, and a Tepig was released. The Tepig's eyes were out of focus upon the second he entered into the world. Ollie, heading to her suitcase, pulled out her own incubator egg, and a pair of glasses, then moved to Bacon, placing the glasses on his tiny pig head. "Here you go, Bacon. Say hi to our new friends, Elle and Edward!" The Tepig immediately adjusted his vision, and looked up at his new friends. As Elle looked at him, the Tepig quickly skipped over, curious of Elle, but snorting quietly.

Upon closer inspection, the Tepig seemed to have a bad leg, or at least that would be Edward's first guess from seeing one of the hind legs being bandaged up. Other than that and his nearsightedness, the Tepig was generally normal. As Edward sat down, the Tepig jumped in his lap, wagging his tail. "Te! TEPIG!" he said, a very delighted facial expression for the Tepig. Edward was happy to meet this pig already. Questions would wait till later though.

The next passenger off was Harley, and as soon as Ollie saw her, she ran up to her. She now wore a pink sleeveless shirt with a pair of really short jean shorts. Edward wanted to see her get tackled, but almost with little effort, Harley held her hand up, defiantly. "If you even touch me with those filthy poor people hands, I will make your life here a living hell." she scoffed, acting high and mighty. Her tanned skin glistened rather well in the now bluer sky, and the more Edward looked her over, the more she looked attractive. That being said, Ed still wasn't interested, in either of them for that matter.

The next to exit the ship was a duo of males. One with light blue hair, his hair shorter than Edward's, but there was a quite a bit of product used in it to make it stand up a bit. He wore a white V-neck, and a pair of tan shorts. He was much more built than Edward, and the other male for that matter. The other male, a blackette with a bit longer hair. He wore glasses, much like the released Tepig, but he seemed cold, calculative. Perhaps something in his eyes. Eyes of a man who spent one too many nights reading tactics and training his Pokémon. He was taller than Edward, but shorter than the blue one.

As they made their appearance, Harley began to swoon over the blue one. Not surprising, and he seemed to give her a triumphant flex. Yup, that couple was going to happen. _Splendid_. Edward could hear minor flirting, but it seemed that from his perspective, Harley and the blue guy were hitting it off oh so well. Ollie seemed to go over to the other male, but the male seemed disinterested. In fact, he just walked past her completely, and to the area they needed to be in. Ollie decided, with that, to stand next to Edward, as they waited for the next passenger to leave, considering the Harley was too busy with one of them, and the other… just didn't care about them.

The next passenger to exit was a female. With pink hair, but not at all was she well-endowed. She seemed flat, but that didn't seem to matter. By far, she was the most attractive of the ladies to come out for Edward, but not the one he had his eyes on. She walked with a bit of skip to her step, and immediately, Ed saw hints of blush from Ollie. And from a distance, the blackette burned red. Her long pink hair reached all the way down to her waist, and she wore a red dress with leggings, despite it being particularly hot. She went through it easy though. Closer up, Edward could see her blue eyes, her nail polish in red and white, and some minor dabs in make-up, including lip gloss. All things Harley had delved a bit in, but not entirely. When she saw her admirers, she looked at Ollie, looked away, and looked to Jamie. She gave a smile, and with one pat on Edward's shoulder, she went to go talk to Jamie.

As she walked by, she spoke to both him and Ollie. "Hello." As she walked by and to the blackette behind them. Ed looked behind him as she walked by, but he looked back ahead. There was only two left. And the one was on there still.

Next was another girl, with beautiful long brown hair. But the girl herself seemed plain and ordinary. While the hair was tied into a ponytail, the brunette wore a tan off-the-shoulder shirt, with what looked like a black tank top underneath, and short shorts, much like Harley. Her eyes were green emeralds, but besides that, it seemed nothing else of note. She made her way out, and despite seemed more reserved than the rest, she looked onwards, not talking to anyone.

Finally, the girl Edward was waiting for appeared. He felt his cheeks flush red, as he looked at her magnificence in front of him. Zoey Maxwell. The younger step-sister of Harley Maxwell, Zoey was less boy crazy, and crazier about Pokémon, which is why she was perfect to Ed. She was sweet, innocent, and not Harley. Her hair in those cute black pig-tails, and an off-the-shoulder shirt for herself, and a skirt. Edward's face was radiant, a mixture of young love and happiness. Leave It up to his new friend, Ollie, to see this immediately. "Oh! You like her, don't ya, Eddy?"

Edward turned his head to her, and his face was red, hearts practically floating upwards. A boyish crush, at best. "Maybe. I do." he could feel the beating in his chest, almost, as she looked his way. Almost immediately, she looked away from him, biting her lip, and moving down the stairs oh so slowly. Her face was red, but as Ollie made a cutesy sound, Zoey hit the bottom of the stairs. She then walked towards Ed. Edward held his arms up for a hug.

Zoey walked right past him. Not acknowledging his existence.

Ed turned around, confused. Something was caught in his throat immediately, and turning back to Harley, he saw a smirk on her face. The blonde's heart sank right through his chest, like a Geodude in quicksand. His radiance was immediately replaced by gloom, and he just rubbed his arm in silence. Was she so toxic that she got to her sister even? Why wouldn't she at least talk to him? Elle, realizing the pain Ed was feeling, quietly jumped back up to his shoulder, and hugged onto him, rubbing her cheek into his. Edward petted her, feeling that only she would be able to cheer him up. Ollie grabbed his shoulder, and smiled. "Ah, it's okay, Eddy. We'll win her back."

We?

Now that all eight campers arrived, they all collectively made their way to the cabins, each in their respective groups. Ollie stuck around near Edward, her hands behind her head as they walked onwards. Zoey walked with Harley and the blue-haired male, both of the latter swooning over one another. The brunette, the pinkette, and the boy with glasses seemed more than eager to converse with one another as they all walked, each one of them already made friends. Ed, on the other hand...

Well, there was Ollie, but she was crazy. One crazy friend. And one frenemy in Harley, possibly two in Zoey. If that wasn't everything, it seemed Blue over there was easily swayed, so that's three negative friends, leaving Ed down by two. Well, Elle made another plus, but she didn't count, she was there from the beginning. But as Edward thought that, almost like a mind-reader, Elle nuzzled into Edward. She knew that face, and he needed comfort. Edward couldn't help but give a weakened smile back to her. "I know. Thank you, Elle." The little fur ball mewed as he pet her again. It seemed Bacon had jumped onto Ollie's shoulder, liking Elle's idea of traveling outside the Pokéball.

As they made it to a burned out campfire in the center of the cabins, the sun appeared to black out for a moment. The brunette female screamed. "What is g-going on?! The s-s-sun!" her voice was squeaky, at best, and she practically dropped her luggage, all but her own incubator. A bunch of the others seemed scared themselves, but Edward rose his brow. That wasn't an eclipse. That was…

As soon as the others realized it, the Metagross had already landed, holding a trio on top of it; a man with darker blue hair, unlike the other blue-haired male, whose blue hair matched closer to a cyan. His hair wrapped around his head, and his eyes were a cunning blue themselves. He was dressed in a dress shirt, a black vest over it, and dress pants, and as Metagross had landed, the male leaped off, almost as though it were natural. "Thank you, Saturn. Helpful as always." He bowed to the Metagross, and the steel giant seemed to smile to that.

The other two on the steel colossus was a man with orange hair, much longer than the other's. Half of his face seemed to be covered as well, but instead of a dress shirt and vest like the dark blue man, he was in more a classy suit. He stepped off of the Metagross, named Saturn, and said nothing else, as he stood behind the first man. On the other hand, the other figure was a woman with white hair, but not a day over her thirties. She looked so young, it was unbelievable her hair and skin was so fair. Out of the corner of Edward's eyes, both Harley and the pink girl both practically looked insanely jealous. The others were more or less like him, not caring. Otherwise, the silver-haired lass wore masculine clothes; a baseball shirt, red sleeves and white, while her pants seemed to be just jeans. The clothes were tight, and it definitely showed off her more mature features, but none of which Edward were into.

The blue suited man spoke. "Let me be the first to say: Welcome to Pokécamps. I am Archie, and beside me is Adam and Lori. It is my pleasure to welcome you eight here." Archie grinned, almost ecstatic to see the campers. Edward noticed the two behind him said nothing, the one known as Adam said nothing as he pulled out his clipboard, while Lori crossed her arms, seemingly unpleased. There was a frown on her face, and as Edward stared into her eyes, her own stared back into his, and for whatever reason, Ed felt chilled to the core, like looking into the eyes of a lion, but back to Archie, Ed gave a smile.

"Now, before I tell you of our numerous facilities and assets, Adam here needs to take attendance. Make sure everyone is here, and to get your names out there. Standard protocol." Archie seemed to take a step back, still smiling as Adam walked forward, his eyes at his clipboard. It was clear this orange-haired man had no intention of befriending any of them, like Lori, but both so unlike Archie.

As Adam stepped up, he began reporting. "Alright. Please let me know which one of you is who when I call your name. First on the list is Jamie Cox." he read out. The blackette male with glasses from before nodded to Adam, not wishing to speak. Adam seemed to respect that, as he made sure to check his name off. As he traced list down, the suited man spoke another name. "Olivia Flor-"

"Ollie is here!" the rainbow-haired girl waved, and made a peace sign, her radiant smile almost intoxicating to look at. She was so quick to reply by cutting off Adam, it almost seemed natural to refer to herself in third-person. Edward felt every glob of sweat come to his head all at once. Perhaps it was Harley's words that made him feel wary of befriending the rainbow girl, but they seemed to stick somewhat. She was definitely an oddity.

Adam looked up. "…yes. You are." His deadpan stare seemingly not amused by the girl's sudden outburst. "Bailey Harper?"

The brunette from earlier who screamed that the sun had eclipsed stepped forward, her hands to her front, as she made a curtsy. "Y-Yes. That's me. I got by Nat." There was a somewhat okay smile moving across her face, but it seemed overshadowed by her stuttering. Edward looked her way, feeling perplexed. Was that normal for her? He wondered quietly.

"Harley Maxwell."

"That's me." Harley nodded again, a smug look on her face as though her name was an accomplishment Ed felt slightly irritated at her arrogance alone, how smug she sounded. So condescending, making everyone around her feel so much worse than her.

"Zoey Maxwell."

Zoey, who until her name had been rubbing her arm quietly in silence, held up her arm, not talking even a bit. What sorcery had Harley put over her to make her so much more reserved? Blackmail? Dark Pokémon? Ghost Pokémon? Not that the latter was really an option, since Edward already knew that neither sister had a ghost, since Harley hated them, and Zoey was afraid of them. Still, what could it have been?

Adam seemed to take a moment to read the next one, but looked back up. "Nic-"

"-ole Moreau, that's me!" the pink-haired girl proclaimed, her arms crossed. Adam seemed to stare at the female for a hot minute, glowering at her for interrupting him, almost deciding to say something different, but instead, the male scoffed, a little annoyed to be interrupted.

"Fine. Adrian Östberg."

The blue-haired boy who was busy pleasing Harley missed his call. Adam said his name again, and he seemed so blissful that it made Edward just frown. "Sup!" he'd finally revealed after he and Harley looking rather into one another for him to bother. Adam brushed it off, seeing as now three of these idiot campers either interrupted him or paid him no respect. He was sick of it.

"And Edward O'Connell." Adam finished, looking right to Edward, as the latter seemed to only nod. It wasn't that he didn't want to say anything, it was that he didn't have anything really to say. The man seemed sick enough of having to talk to these little shits, let alone see them, and as he finished, he went back to Metagross, a peeved frown marking his face so abhorrently. Edward could relate, at least in terms of Harley and Adrian.

With Adam finished, Archie took the stage again, bowing his head to everyone. "Now that that's out of the way, I can explain what you're here for. As each of your letters stated, you each have been invited to take place in this grand experiment to prove once and for all that humans and Pokémon can coexist with one another, in the same habitat even! Our research is meant to undermine criminal organizations such as Team Rocket, Team Galactic, and Team Plasma. If we can prove that Pokémon and humans should coexist, we will essentially be able to convert criminals into members of society, and reduce the crime rate in our world." The explanation was rather lengthy, but what it amounted to was their research would put an end to evil teams. A noble goal.

"Each of you have a reason to be here. A dream. And if you don't have one, you may soon get one while being here. For one year, you will live among the Pokémon. Make this place as homely as possible, as long as you be mindful to the wildlife. Which brings me to my next point." Archie was glowing now, excited for what he was truly about to say. "Through cunning research, and nights of time consuming number crunching, I'm happy to announce that on a yearly basis, Pokécamps is the only place in our world to have hosted over 700 different species of Pokémon in a year!"

For a minutes, Edward's weak smile seemed to come back in full force. So many species of Pokémon, all to discover, all to research. One big toothy grin marked Edward, and it wasn't just him. Zoey, Ollie, and Nicole all seemed to jump on the happy train at that fact. 700 Pokémon species was such a big number, it seemed almost unreal that many could possibly exist. But they did, and it excited them all the more.

"Now, as I said. Pokémon come depending on the season. Once the season turns to winter, however, we will have you escorted to the mansion within the forest, seeing as we have rooms for all of you, as well as heaters. That being said, it's up to you to go on your own to find Pokémon. Those eggs I gave each of you are merely the first step. Nurture them, and they will be a Pokémon to truly personify your personality!" Finally, Archie seemed to be close to finishing his speeches, as he changed topics. "You'll find numerous places to catch Pokémon here too! Such as the beach we stand on. There's a forest behind the cabin, and a little past that, are open fields. Granted, this is a small island, but the field is just big enough for inhabiting wildlife. Along with that, we have a cave, the ocean itself, and above our cafeteria on the second floor, a sky garden! And many more places. Explore all you want on the island. And above all else, make friends!" and with that, Archie turned to Lori, and gave her a nod.

Lori stepped forward finally to speak, her face almost in a permanent scowl. When she spoke, she practically barked. "Alright, maggots. Archie told me to assign you cabins, so here's how it's gonna work. Cabin 1 will be a girl's cabin. Maxwell's, you two will be in that cabin. Cabin 2 is a boy's cabin. Cox and Östberg will bunk there. Cabin 3 is for girl's, with Harper and Flores. And finally, the final cabin will sadly be a co-ed cabin, consisting of O'Connell and Moreau. If you have any complaint, call up at the mansion at 555-I-don't-really-give-a-Rattata's-ass."

Sassing her already, Adrian smirked. "So in digits that must also spell out 555-I'm-a-Bitch, am I right?" Harley made a laugh, in what Edward could only detail as wanting to keep his attention, but as soon as she saw the look on Lori's face, she stopped cold. As Adrian realized the error of his ways too late, Lori practically stomped towards him, towering over him with as little as five inches between them both.

"Wanna say that again, Östberg? To my face?" her eyes showed something far more than evil, making the word itself look holy in comparison. Those eyes showed Giratina itself, a ghost demon dragon Pokémon bent on tearing the blue teenager apart within moments if not for Adrian's sudden instant Pokéball shrinkage. No one will defy a demon of the dimension like Giratina, after all. Adrian quieted down, standing straight, shivering. Lori backed up, patting his head to let him know that he best keep his sass to himself.

Lori continued, scowling the rest of her words. "Right. So to make this quick. I will be keeping surveillance on you lot. No mature activity outside of the cabins. No sleeping in anyone's cabins but your own. No loitering, no Pokémon or human abuse. In the event that a Pokémon is injured, take it to the clinic. Our nurse intern, Millie Hughes is obligated to cure any Pokémon of any illness to the best of her ability. Or wound for that matter. If you have an idea for something to be built here, let our resident mechanic, Jones, know. He is a master of craftsmanship, from making a hind-legless Nidoran walking again with makeshift legs, and other wares. If those two can't fix your problem, I implore you to please look up Dante. He is also an intern, directly under Archie, but be warned. He's a little odd. With that all taken care of, there's only one more thing to go over."

"In your cabin there will be two bags, one with each of your names on it. The bag will hold five Pokéballs, two Great Balls, and a Pokégear with contacts to everyone on the island. A map of the island itself, and a card with currency that we will fund every two weeks for your own use. That use being over 100,000 yen every other week. We're not running a charity though, so we won't give you any more than that." Looking to the side, Edward noticed Harley's eyes practically turn into dollar signs. But back to Lori, she already anticipated it. "If we do see your yen any lower than 100,000, we will fund you back up to 100,000 by the second week. No more than that." And with that, Harley immediately sunk over herself, irritated that the island wouldn't give them an extra 100,000 every two weeks.

"That being said. We do allow shipments of clothes to be ordered online. Just make sure of your size before you order, because you get no refunds." Harley's eyes perked up again at that, as did Nicole's. "With all that said, I think that's all you need covered." Lori walked back to the Metagross, Saturn, taking her place behind Archie.

Archie stood up from the Metagross, peering at his new experimenters. With one toothier grin, he held his hand up as a means to say goodbye. "Make me proud campers. And once again. Welcome to camp." And with that, they were off, gone from their eyes only minutes later.

With that, the eight were left to their own devices. Each went into their respective cabins. Edward watched as Harley and Zoey disappeared from sight. Zoey was gone in a flash from him. Then Jamie and Adrian, and from the look of Adrian and Harley from going in their respective cabins, they winked at one another. Not pleasant to see. Then Bailey and Ollie dispersed into their cabin, leaving Nicole and Ed to themselves. Being as polite as he could, Ed headed there first, holding the door open for her, which Nicole curtsied too in such a cute manner, it made Edward question his crush on Zoey. "Why thank you, Edward. You are such a gentleman." Her cute squeaky voice spoke out, as she entered the cabin.

It was a standard cabin. Two beds, two floors, a bed for each. The other floor required a ladder to get up there. A desk for each of them, with a ceiling fan, and lights. For the most part, the place felt empty. It was rather sad, but it made sense as to why it was the way it was. The objective was to make their own goals after all, and personify their experience here. Which meant the cabin too.

Nicole seemed to get into that idea right away, as before Edward could call it, Nicole spoke out. "Bottom bed!" she clapped, before skipping over to her bed, and laying in it, feeling the softness. "Oh. Em. Gee! You have to feel this, Edward! It's so soft!" she jumped up from the bed to drag Edward over, who subsequently dropped his stuff in being pulled along. It was… fun to make friends like this, if this is what it meant to be friends, anyways.

As Elle made sure to make her presence known to Nicole, the pink-haired girl squealed in excitement. "An Eevee! I thought these were only native to Kalos! Oh my g! You should totally make her a Sylveon! She'd look so adorable with that bow already in her hair and all!" Nicole grabbed up the little fur ball, and picked it up, spinning around with it in her arms. Edward watched as she seemed to enjoy the Pokémon so much from mere cuteness. Obviously, she loved cute things. Edward would make a note of that.

"Oh! Idea! I'll let you see my Pokémon for seeing yours, then we'll unpack, right darling?" she declared, as she pulled out her own Pokéball, and tossed it up. And from the light, took form a tiny little blue crocodile who immediately danced in place. "Alright, Milo! Say hi to our roommates!" and as the Totodile turned his gaze, Edward got a better look at him, even as he noticed the little crocodile's toothy, happy dance. He wore a pink scarf around his neck, which by the look of it, was just as cute as Nicole was. Other than that, the tiny crocodile would hold out a hand to Elle to shake it for their first meeting, and then waved with both hands to Edward, practically jumping in place to say hi. He was an energetic little guy, but it seemed like he soon tired himself out, as he fell onto the bed, enjoying the softness too much himself to make any more movements besides snoring ones.

"Milo? He's a keeper." Edward laughed, not at Nicole for the Pokémon, but out of how cute the whole scene played out was. Nicole nodded her head and quietly tucked the crocodile in, which made Edward remember Zoey for a quick second… but quietly stifled the memory, only feeling pain in association. With that, the two went to work with unpacking.

Shocking thing was that almost right off the bat, Nicole had made Edward her personal slave boy with luggage. She took something out from her bags, and told him where to put it. A boy-band poster with shirtless models. Jewelry boxes. Make-up and accessories, and a couple of tiny mirrors that together made a mirror wall. Some pink blankets after ditching the ordinary orange ones on her bed. And finally, a couple of pictures of a pink-haired boy. Edward couldn't help but ask about these. "So… um… whose the boy? Your boyfriend?"

"Oh? Is that jealousy in your voice I hear? Have you fallen for the assets of Nicole already? You're cute, so I might be willing to let you take me out!" she mused, winking at Edward, practically blowing him a kiss already. Of course, Edward didn't think she was serious, as neither of them seemed particularly attracted to one another. Well, maybe a little…

Edward made a side-glance to avoid the embarrassment from showing on his face. He thought to himself how it didn't matter, and focused more on the curiosity, over the potential jealousy. "No, not really. I just figured I'd ask. He looks like you quite a bit."

After saying that, Nicole became immediately less flirty, and more on edge. "I look nothing like him!" her voice cracked for a moment, as she immediately went to grab more make-up. That was odd, but as she took a moment to think about Ed's choice of words, she turned back to him. "Wait. Do you not know who that is, Edward?"

"Not really. If I had to guess, your brother? Should I know him?" Edward replied confusedly, almost befuddled that he couldn't think of a name to the face. It wasn't just that Edward wasn't connecting a name to a face, it was more just him not knowing who the boy was. Was it his fault? Probably not.

The look of relief Nicole seemed to own on her face alone was immeasurable. "Oh thank Arceus." She gave a sigh of relief, before setting down the make-up she was about to throw on, and turned her gaze back to him with a big smile on her face. "It's better you not know who he is, darling. Personal reasons, k? You're doing me such a big favor if you don't talk about it!" as soon as she finished that, she did something that made Edward more or less suspicious, since she brushed if off so quickly. Kissing his cheek, and passing it off as nothing was a suspicious behavior. Maybe it was a… well, actually, he never asked where she was from. But he supposed, what with her having passed it off as nothing, he'd leave her to her own devices. The lip gloss practically stained his cheek anyways. It'd take a shower to get that cleaned off, and as Nicole left the cabin momentarily, Edward attempted to rub it off to no avail. Deciding it was a pointless endeavor, the blonde quit, and went to grab his things.

Heading up to his bed finally, egg and incubator in hand, Edward climbed up the ladder with Elle, who had more or less been napping all the while as Edward was doing Nicole's bidding. As he sat on his own bed, the sensation of a newly-made bed made him remember days in the past. In particular, how amazing Zoey was. For whatever the reason, whenever he'd stay over at her house at Verdanturf, she'd always make up the bed, just for him. It was the one reason he felt so admirable to the younger Maxwell sibling. As he might get up, the blonde decided not to stay on the thought, as it would only make him feel sad over Zoey. He was living his dream, no need to feel mopey now!

From the bed, he slowly took out his own personal items from his luggage. First of all, a laptop he kept as means for a personal diary. Secondly, his clothes, which he had four or five spare pairs of clothing. Finally, his headphones and music device. As soon as those left the bag, he fixated on the bag Archie gave them, and sure enough, it was filled with all the items Archie said. Seven balls, two kinds of balls between Pokéballs and Great Balls. A Pokégear to which Edward merely turned it on, and checked the contacts, seeing a list of numbers he needed to put names for. A map of the island, and ideal Pokémon habitats. And of course, the card with over one hundred thousand yen on it. It was so small to hold so much. Checking the bag again, he noticed his own personal name was on it. Looking down-ladder to Nicole, he noticed her own, but paid it no mind.

Deciding now to be a time to cool off, or rather, to catch some extra hours of sleep, Edward put the headphones on, and laid down on the bed. Upon seeing this, Elle jumped up onto the bed, took a place in the male's chest, and curled up as well, mewing to herself as the two drifted off to sleep, music playing in Ed's ear, while Elle was just glad to be next to her trainer. And now, they had a moment all to themselves…

. . .

It would be maybe an hour or two later until Edward woke up. He noticed, to his left from where he slept on the bed that Nicole was still messing with her room, in particular the eyeliner. As he got up, he noticed Elle was absent from his chest, mostly because Elle was mewing already at something else. On Edward's desk, something made Edward's eyes widen in disbelief.

The egg was hatching! It was cracking! It was going to make a new life! Edward quickly moved to the desk, despite feeling dizzy from getting up in a hurry, and pretty much stared at the egg with a happy face.

The egg continued to shift about without fail, as each crack made it easier for release. It kept shifting back and forth, until the egg around it broke entirely. Edward looked on in curiosity, so interested in the Pokémon that would appear. That Pokémon was…

[TO BE CONTINUED – Next Time, Chapter 2 of Welcome to Camp]


End file.
